Italian incumbent Telecom Italia (TI) announced today that it has acquired a 10% stake in Sofora, the holding company of Argentine incumbent Telecom Argentina, for US$145m.
In a statement released this morning, TI said that through this acquisition it…
Italian incumbent Telecom Italia (TI) announced today that it has acquired a 10% stake in Sofora, the holding company of Argentine incumbent Telecom Argentina, for US$145m.
In a statement released this morning, TI said that through this acquisition it now controls 68% of Telecom Argentina’s capital (up from 58%).
Its economic interest has risen from 18.3% to 21.1%.
It bought the stake from the Argentine investment group Werthein.
Originally, Telecom Argentina was a 50:50 joint venture between Telecom Italia and Werthein.
Back in November 2010, TI received permission from the Argentine authorities to increase its stake to 58%, in spite of competition concerns.
TI’s indirect owner is Spanish telco Telefonica, which also controls Argentina’s largest fixed-line telco, Telefonica Argentina.
The deal was passed by the authorities after TI was able to assure them that Telefonica would have no influence over Telecom Argentina.
Telecom Argentina provides fixed-line telephony and internet services.
It announced its 2010 results on 21 February, showing an operating profit of over US$3.2bn (up 16% from 2009) and a net income of more than US$1.8bn (up 30% from 2009).
It also showed an increase of 1.9 million to its number of mobile subscribers, an increase of 13%.
